A stream of people coming to vote at the Edward Smith Elementary School Library polling place continued late into Tuesday evening, bringing more than 700 people to the polling station.

“I’ve been to others, and this is the biggest turnout that I’ve ever seen,” said Katherine Hayes, who has been an elections inspector for 12 years.

Voters expressed a desire to come to the polls for several reasons, including social issues, the economy and simply exercising their democratic right to do so.

Norman Richards, 77, of Syracuse who’s a retired State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry professor, said he voted straight Democrat — the first time he’s done so in years. He said he was annoyed with the Green Party because it put up someone to compete against Dan Maffei, subtracting from potential votes in the 24th Congressional District race.

In terms of the presidential election, Richards said he has always been a supporter of President Barack Obama.

“He did a very good job, given the mess that the Republicans left for him,” he said.

Tim Rushmore, 57, who is a self-employed carpenter who lives in Syracuse, said he voted in both the national and local elections, though he did not want to disclose which candidates he ended up voting for.

When asked if there was a specific issue that brought him out to the polls, Rushmore re-emphasized that he’s an American and it’s his right to vote.

Beth Theiss, 52, who is self-employed and lives in Syracuse, said she always votes, and said the economy and health care plan passed under Obama were some of the issues she voted on.

“For president, I voted for Romney,” she said. “Because I don’t believe in socialism; I believe in capitalism.”

Stef Alessi, 20, a junior communication sciences and disorders major at Syracuse University and member of College Democrats, registered in Onondaga County instead of filing to vote absentee in her hometown of Hammonton, N.J. because it was easier and registering students to vote on campus is one of the College Democrats’ activities.

She said it was the first presidential election she has been able to participate in, and as a member of the Democratic Party, Alessi said she voted Democratic across the board. The candidates appealed to her for social reasons, such as being pro-abortion rights and supporting gay marriage, she said.

Said Alessi: “I think it’s really important that I come out because I want to vote in all of them.”

 

Published on November 7, 2012 at 4:29 am

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum